The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 (Blu-Ray)

Blu-Ray Reviews | Jul 3rd, 2018

The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection: Volume 2
Image used with permission for review purposes.

Starring: Larry Storch, Rich Little, Paul Frees, Laura Olsher, Mel Blanc, Henry Mancini
Directed By: Friz Freleng, Hawley Pratt
Studio: Kino Lorber
Buy On Amazon.com

I love Pink Panther cartoons and love that they are being re-released on Blu-Ray via Kino Lorber. This is the second volume and it’s more of the same from the previous volume.

There’s 20 animated shorts on this volume 2 and just picks from where the last volume picked up. These are from 1966-1968 and this was when he was in his prime I think. I wasn’t around then but the cartoons are better. The usual premise is that The Pink Panther is up to no good and usually causing problems for the little man. There’s lots of slapstick gags and parodies as well.

I probably have said this in the first volume but love watching Pink Panther cartoons but it’s not something to binge. The same Mancini theme is used over and over so if you binge this, the music won’t escape your head for awhile. It’s better to just watch a few shorts at a time and you’ll appreciate them more. This volume 2 has a lot of great animated shorts but honestly, I really don’t have a stand out favorite. Maybe the one where he’s trying to be a superhero and everything is going wrong? Watching these on Blu-Ray, I can really appreciate the detail and animation from Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt.

It must be noted that these shorts don’t contain the laugh tracks, just like Volume 1. I really wish Scooby Doo and Flintstones were re-released so they didn’t have a laugh track in them. The video quality is excellent and the best I’ve seen for Pink Panther. I have a complete collection of shorts on DVD but soon I won’t need it since this won’t be the last Kino Lorber releases Pink Panther shorts.

The Blu-Ray contains some commentary on select episodes, as well as some quick From Page To Screen featurettes. Like with all Kino Lorber releases, I wish they had digital HD included but I guess they don’t have the rights for that.

The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 is more of the same like there was in Volume 1, which is a good thing. I’ll be happy when all these are released and can watch them at my leisure.

Features:
-20 shorts in chronological order
-Audio commentaries for selected films by author Mark Arnold, historian Jerry Beck, filmmaker Greg Ford, cartoon writer William Hohauser, and veteran DePatie-Freleng storymen Tony Benedict and Art Leonardi
-Pink Outs (TV Version)
-From Page to Screen – In the Pink
-From Page to Screen – The Pink Blueprint
-Reversible Blu-ray art

Video:
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1

Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0

Bottom Line: Another great batch of cartoons!
Running Time: 125 mins
Rating: NR
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:

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